First screened on ITV at 9.00 pm on Christmas Eve in 1989, Herbert Wise’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, The Woman in Black, wowed critics, ruined Christmas for a generation and is still one of the best ghost stories made for TV.
Set in 1925, the narrative follows solicitor Arthur Kidd (Adrian Rawlins), who is sent by his superior, Mr Sweetman (David Ryall), to the small coastal market town of Crythin Gifford to deal with the estate of recently deceased eccentric widow Mrs Alice Drablow – much to the dismay of the superstitious locals.
The estate in question is Eel Marsh House, an isolated coastal house that is cut off regularly by the winter tides flooding its shingle causeway.
In that remote house, Arthur is tormented by terrifying noises and cries – and ghostly appearances from a tall woman dressed in black (Pauline Moran), who comes to exert a malevolent hold over his life.
The story was remade in 2012, with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead, but it’s this original version that remains the most frosty and desolate.
With a script adapted by visionary British sci-fi screenwriter Nigel Kneale, it creates a creeping sense of dread that ebbs just like the water surrounding the bleak setting.
After briefly resurfacing on WH Smith’s own-brand VHS label in 1991 and screening on Channel 4 in 1994, The Woman in Black disappeared.
Partly owing to its scarcity, a mystique grew around it, with copies passed from hand to hand on home-dubbed VHS tapes and hooky DVDs. In later years, it made fleeting illegal appearances on YouTube.
The movie – beautifully restored to a cinema-quality print – was eventually released on Blu-ray in August 2020.
Arthur Kidd
Adrian Rawlins
Sam Toovey
Bernard Hepton
Josiah Freston
David Daker
Woman in Black
Pauline Moran
Mr Sweetman
David Ryall
Stella Kidd
Clare Holman
Stella’s Mother
Caroline John
Eddie Kidd
Joseph Upton
Arnold Pepperell
John Cater
Reverend Greet
John Franklyn-Robbins
Mrs Toovey
Fiona Walker
John Keckwick
William Simons
Bessie
Robin Weaver
Rolfe
Steven Mackintosh
Jackie
Andy Nyman
Mr Girdler
Robert Hamilton
Farmer
Trevor Cooper
Gypsy Woman
Alison King
Gypsy Children
Mary Lawlor
Clare Thomson
Stall Holder
Peter Guinness
Lorry Man
Timothy Block
Fireman
Albie Woodington
Director
Herbert Wise
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